Feelings
by kbw510
Summary: Tim Bradford and Lucy Chen are both trying to figure out their feelings towards each other, which is complicated because of their training officer and rookie status. But when a call goes wrong and one of them is left fighting for their life, it changes everything.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **_Hey guys!! I am so excited to be writing this story!! The Rookie is my absolute favorite show right now, so I hope I'm doing the show justice in this story!! Most of my fanfics about The Rookie will be centered around Lucy and Bradford! Read and review and let me know if you like the story so far!! Thanks!_

Summary: Tim Bradford and Lucy Chen are both trying to figure out their feelings towards each other, which is complicated because of their training officer and rookie status. But when a call goes wrong and one of them is left fighting for their life, it changes everything.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Rookie it any of its characters... (if I did, Bradford and Lucy would already be together lol)

(This story is set sometime in the beginning/early middle of season 2. After Tim got infected but way before what happened to Lucy (don't want to spoil the show if some of you haven't caught up yet lol))

**Chapter 1**

Tim Bradford walked into the Los Angeles Police Department and took his seat at roll call. The whole department was gearing up for one of the hottest days of the summer, and Bradford was not looking forward to it. To add to that, tonight was going to be a full moon, and the crazies were already starting to come out. Some people didn't believe that the full moon caused people to go crazy, but having worked with the LAPD for twelve years, Bradford had seen many instances of strange things happening during a full moon.

"Alright, listen up!" Sergeant Wade Grey called from the front of the room. "Today is going to bring us record high temperatures, and tonight, a full moon. Those two things together are going to be an interesting combination, so don't let your guard down and don't let anything surprise you. Be safe out there."

Bradford left the room with his friend and fellow training officer, Angela Lopez following behind him. "Hey, me and some of the guys are going to get a drink after shift. Want to join us?" she asked him.

"Can't. I'm going out tonight."

"Going out with somebody?" she questioned, smiling.

"Yes, with somebody." He curtly replied, not willingly giving up any information.

"And, is this somebody a she?" Lopez pushed.

He stopped and turned to glare at her. She just smiled at him, and he sighed, "yes, the somebody is a she. I have a date tonight."

"Aww, is it a first date?"

"You're lucky I told you I had a date at all," he joked. "Let's get to work, its going to be crazy today. You and West stay safe."

"You too. See you later."

He turned and almost ran into his rookie, Officer Lucy Chen. "Boot. Where's our gear?"

"I'm going to get it right now, sir."

"Make it quick, the calls aren't going to answer themselves."

She nodded and walked past him and got their gear, then met him at the shop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bradford and Chen had been on the streets for no more than 10 minutes when their radio crackled to life, "7-Adam-19, reports of a possible domestic disturbance at 347 Crenshaw Drive. Neighbors said they heard screaming and yelling coming from the house."

Lucy grabbed the radio and responded, "7-Adam-19, copy. En route."

Bradford switched the lights and siren on and pressed down on the gas. Two minutes later they pulled up at the address and were surprised when they saw a young lady frantically run out of the house. She ran up to them crying hysterically.

"Ma'am, I'm Officer Bradford, can you tell me what's wrong? Is someone after you? Does anyone in the house have a weapon?" Bradford tried getting information out of her.

"No, no... my baby sister... is choking!" She yelled between sobs, "please... help her!"

Bradford sprinted for the house while hollering behind him to Lucy, "Chen, radio for medics!"

Lucy grabbed the radio and said, "7-Adam-19, requesting medics. There's a baby choking at this address."

"7-Adam-19, ambulance already responding, we just got a call from one of the residents. ETA about 3 minutes out."

Lucy followed the young lady into the house, and they found Tim carefully taking a small baby girl from a hysterical mother and father. They caught the tail end of what the father was saying, "we were sitting right here with Olivia, I don't even know how it happened. Please, help my baby girl!"

The little girl's eyes and mouth were opened wide, but no sound was coming out of her mouth. Her skin was starting to turn blue.

Lucy walked next to Bradford and spoke quietly so only he could hear "medics are 3 minutes out, that's way too long."

He nodded and gently turned the baby over in his arms, so she was facedown along one of his forearms, holding her head lower than her chest. He used the heel of his other hand to deliver quick, firm back blows while whispering to himself, and the little girl, "Come on... come on, Olivia..."

After a few blows, they all saw a grape fly out of her mouth and heard the reassuring sound of her take a deep breath in, and let it out, now screaming. Lucy released the breath she didn't realize she was holding in and felt tears well up in her eyes, as Bradford carefully handed Olivia back to her parents, who were crying with relief.

"Oh, thank you. You saved our baby, thank you so much!" The mother said, crying and hugging her baby tight.

Bradford just nodded, then said, "An ambulance should be here any minute, they'll probably want to take Olivia to the hospital for evaluation."

The parents nodded and continued holding their crying little girl. Olivia's sister, the young lady who had come out to the car, rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Bradford. He tensed at first, but then relaxed when she said, "thank you for saving my sister, Officer Bradford. We'll never be able to repay you."

"You don't need to repay me. I'm just doing my job." Bradford replied nonchalantly. They heard the ambulance sirens, and all went out to meet the medics.

Bradford led the way so he could talk to the EMTs first. He detailed what happened to them, and they decided to take Olivia to the hospital for evaluation and observation. After the ambulance drove off, Bradford and Lucy headed back to their shop.

"You were amazing back there," Lucy smiled at him.

"All part of the job. Crazy situations are always going to come up, boot. You just have to be prepared for anything and everything. Don't ever forget that." He said and gave her a small smile back.

Tim Bradford was as tough as nails, and the hardest training officer in the LAPD. Lucy couldn't deny that he had some very odd ways of teaching her lessons, but driving away from that call, Lucy knew this was one lesson that she would always remember.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the day was just as crazy as that first call. Bradford and Lucy responded to an assailant with a machete in a shopping center, a report of gunshots near the Santa Monica pier, they had four traffic stops leading to the arrests of two individuals and worked a three-car accident with serious injuries.

Bradford was relieved that their shift was finally over. He ran into Lucy on the way out of the station, "Boot, good work today."

"Thank you, sir. I'm going to get a drink with Angela, Nolan, West and some of the guys. Are you coming too?"

"Not tonight, I already have plans. Rain check, though." He said and headed towards his truck.

Lucy watched him walk away and was surprised to discover that she was a little disappointed he wasn't joining them. She pushed those feelings aside and went to find Lopez.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning Tim took his seat next to Lopez at roll call. "So... how was your date last night?" Lopez asked.

"I don't really want to talk about it, Lopez."

"You know I have to ask, what happened? And don't feed me bull crap. Seriously, tell me what happened."

Bradford sighed, "well, the evening seemed to be going pretty well. She was a blind date, one of my friends set me up with her, and apparently, he forgot to mention my career. After I told her that I'm a cop, she basically told me that she likes me, but she didn't want to spend every night of her life worrying if her significant other is going to come home. She didn't want to lead me on, so she told me she doesn't want another date."

"I'm sorry, Tim. There's someone out there for you, you just have to keep looking."

Bradford started to say something back but was glad when Sgt. Grey started speaking from the front of the room. He didn't want to get all into his feelings right now. He was content with where his relationship life was right now, at least that's what he kept telling himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later, he was riding in the shop with Lucy when they heard John Nolan's call over the radio, "7- Adam-15, requesting backup for a felony traffic stop. Troy Boulevard and Langley Drive."

"7-Adam-19, responding. ETA 3 minutes." Lucy replied to the call.

When they pulled up, they saw that Harper and Nolan had already blocked off and diverted traffic, and they both had their weapons drawn and were yelling commands to the driver of an old red Toyota. They got out and drew their weapons as well, and yelled "covering", to let Harper and Nolan know they were there. The driver of the Toyota complied with all their commands, he got out, and they handcuffed him.

After putting him in the car Harper called out, "let's search his car."

Bradford had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Hold on guys, something doesn't feel right."

"What do you mean? He's in custody, there's no one else in the car. Piece of cake." Harper replied matter-of-factly.

"That's exactly what I mean. He went too easily. It was a piece of cake, which is what makes me feel like something is wrong."

"Come on, Bradford. Take this for what it is. He gave up, he's arrested. That's it. We can be done as soon as we search the car and call a tow truck."

"Harper, think about it, what is this guy's rap sheet?"

Nolan spoke up, "petty theft, larceny, possession, and currently has warrants out for assault with a deadly weapon, kidnapping, and grand theft."

Bradford continued, "this guy is going away for a long time. He doesn't have much to lose. Why would he give himself up so easily?"

"Bradford, it's a scorcher out here today. I don't feel like sitting out here in the blazing sun while you try to figure out your gut feeling. Nolan and I are searching the car, and it would go a lot faster and be a lot easier if you would help."

Bradford angrily sighed, "okay, but I still don't like it."

"I didn't say you had to." Harper snidely replied.

Harper and Nolan started searching the front seat, while Lucy started in the backseat, and Bradford moved towards the trunk, all the while furiously mumbling to himself. He was angry that Harper didn't want to listen to him. The feeling he had told him something was very wrong, and his instinct was rarely ever wrong.

He popped open the trunk and his eyes went wide at what he saw. "Bomb!" he yelled, "Less than 10 seconds! Everyone out of the car!" Harper, Nolan, and Lucy jumped out of the car and started running. Bradford had waited for them to get out of the car and run ahead of him, so he was bringing up the rear.

They hadn't made it far when they heard a thunderous explosion behind them. Harper and Nolan had made it behind their car, while Bradford and Lucy were a few steps away. Bradford lunged forward and threw himself on top of his rookie as carefully as he could. They felt the force of the explosion, and the heat on their backs as the ground shook.

What came after could only be described as an unnerving silence.

_I hope you guys enjoyed this! **Review** and let me know what you think about my first fanfic for The Rookie!! Thanks for reading!!_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **_Hey guys!! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!! Please **review **and let me know what you think!_

_I am not a medical professional, so if anything is wrong I apologize in advance!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own The Rookie or its characters._

**Chapter 2**

As quick as the explosion happened, it was over. Nolan jumped from out behind his car, yelling to Lucy and Bradford. He felt the heat of the burning car on his face as he ran towards the heap on the ground that was his friends, and fellow officers.

"Lucy! Bradford!" He continued to yell their names as he reached them. He noted that they were both laying on their sides, and Lucy was tucked safely in Bradford's arms. He had risked his own safety to make sure Lucy was safe. Under the hard exterior, Tim Bradford was really looking out for Lucy, and for that Nolan was extremely grateful. He looked them over for injuries as Harper called in what had happened.

As he was checking out Lucy, both she and Bradford began to groan. "What the hell?" Bradford said, voice hoarse, as he opened his eyes, squinting at the harsh sunlight.

After he noticed Lucy was wrapped in his arms, he quickly released his hold on her, and was glad she hadn't noticed that he'd had his arms around her yet. He was surprised to discover that he felt like a teenager crushing on a girl. The connection was a spark that he hadn't realized was there before this moment. He shook his head to clear the thoughts, what was he even thinking?! A relationship between a T.O. and their rookie would never work. He pushed those thoughts aside and focused on Lucy coming around.

She opened her eyes and waited for the ringing in her ears to stop before she said, "what happened?"

"Explosion from a bomb in the guy's trunk," Nolan answered. "Are you guys okay?"

Lucy checked over herself, and other than a few bumps and bruises beginning to form, and a small headache, she was okay. "I think I'm good," she said as she reached out a hand for Nolan to help her up.

They both looked down at Bradford, still sitting on the ground. When he realized they were staring at him he quickly got up. He looked at Lucy, "I'm glad you're okay. Nolan, are you and Harper okay?" He asked.

"Yes, sir. We're both good, we got behind the car before the bomb went off. You two weren't so lucky. Harper is calling in what happened. Grey is already on the way, and so are the medics. You guys need to get checked out."

"I don't think you're in a position to be telling me what to do, Nolan. You're still a rookie." Bradford knew Grey would make him get checked out, but he wasn't going to start taking crap from rookies now. He had to stand his ground with them.

"But, sir, you're bleeding," Lucy spoke up quietly, pointing to a cut above Bradford's left eye. He reached up and touched the spot.

"That's nothing, I've had worse—" he was cut off by the unmistakable sound of gunshots. "Take cover!" He yelled.

Nolan called "shots fired" into his radio, as he and Lucy ducked between the two police cars, trying to determine where the shots came from.

Bradford took a step to follow them when pain shot up his right leg and through his whole body. The pain was so intense that bile rose up and burned his throat, but he forced it back down. He quickly looked at his leg and barely noticed that the thigh area of his pants was torn and wet with blood. The adrenaline had kept the pain at bay, but now that it had worn off a little bit, his leg was throbbing.

He didn't know what exactly was wrong, but he was glad it wasn't too noticeable because he had to get them out of this first. Luckily, Nolan, Lucy, and Harper, who had joined the other two, weren't paying any attention to him, as shots continued to ring out, so he limped over to where they were and helped search for the gunman.

"Do you see anybody?" Nolan asked them. "Negative," Bradford answered.

"No, but it sounds like they're coming—" Lucy quit talking when the shots abruptly stopped.

They all heard a voice call out, "we just want Mr. Young. He was the one driving the car. Let us take him and we'll be out of your hair."

Lucy and Nolan looked to Harper and Bradford for direction on what to do next. When Lucy first looked at Bradford she noticed he looked a little out of it, which was very unusual for him, but a second later he looked fine. She decided not to say anything, but to keep an eye on him instead.

Bradford yelled back, "yeah, that's not going to happen. It'd be best if you surrendered now, no one has to get hurt today." He realized the voice had come from an alley across the road. He whispered to the other officers, "alley, 12 o'clock."

They all looked and nodded, telling him they agreed with his suspicions. He spoke into his radio, "7-Adam-19, possibly located the suspect or suspects who fired the shots. We think they are in an alley off of Langley, between the brick building on the corner and the bar next to that."

They heard the familiar voice of Sgt. Grey come over the radio. "Copy, Bradford, I'm pulling up behind the alley, I'll try to flush them out to you."

They heard a new voice yell from the alley, "the only thing that's gonna happen is we're leaving here with Mr. Young!"

Tim ignored the voice but spoke back into the radio, "Sergeant, we've heard at least two voices, and confirmed they're coming from the alley."

"10-4. I've got backup and we're headed down the alley now."

They heard voices coming from the alley yelling, "Police! Come out with your hands up!"

Another police car pulled up on their side of the alley, and Lopez and West got out to join them.

They split up, and went wide around either side of the alley, so if the suspects decided to run, they could easily cut them off. Bradford, Lucy, and West went around to the right side, and Nolan, Harper, and Lopez went around to the left side.

Bradford stayed in the back of his group, so the others didn't notice his slight limp. He was nauseous, and he noticed that his breathing was getting shallow and rapid.

At this point, he could feel the blood dripping down his leg, but his buddies needed him, and he wouldn't quit until everyone was safe.

A couple minutes later, just like predicted, the two suspects tried to run out of the alley but were easily stopped. 2 against 6, plus the officers behind them, wasn't good odds, so they gave up rather easily.

West and Chen each walked one of the suspects to their cars and put them in. They were getting ready to leave so they could get their perps booked at the station when Grey stopped Nolan, Harper, Bradford, and Lucy.

"You guys need to get checked out by the medics, but they aren't here yet. I'll radio dispatch and see what the holdup is, but we can finish up here while we wait for them."

The whole time Grey was talking, Lucy was watching Bradford. She noticed his skin looked pale, he seemed to be having trouble breathing, and he was swaying on his feet a little.

As they all nodded and turned to finish at the scene, Lucy asked Bradford, "hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?" He said, but it came out weaker than he expected.

"I don't know, you aren't acting right, and you don't look too good."

Bradford was somewhat annoyed, but also proud that she was observant and listening to her intuition.

As he opened his mouth to speak, he noticed everything had grown fuzzy, "yeah... I'm fine..." he managed to get out before the world went black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grey turned when he heard Lucy yell, "Tim!"

He saw Bradford laying in a heap on the ground, and Lucy kneeling next to him. As he rushed over, he called into his radio, "Officer down! I repeat, Officer down! I need an ambulance at Langley and Troy immediately!" Then he spoke to Lucy, "what's wrong?"

"I'm not sure, I noticed he looked a little pale and it seemed like he was having trouble breathing. I asked him if he was okay and he collapsed."

Grey carefully moved Bradford onto his back and started looking over him for injuries. As his eyes passed over Bradford's legs, he noticed his pants were torn around mid-thigh. "Officer Chen, get your first aid kit quickly!"

Lucy did as she was told and Grey immediately grabbed the scissors and started cutting up the leg of Bradford's pants. At this point, Lopez, West, Nolan, and Harper had gathered around.

They all heard dispatch come back over the radio saying, "Ambulance is stuck in traffic along Langley. Looks like a serious car accident is holding them up. They're trying to get around, but ETA looks to be about 15 minutes."

Grey shook his head and cursed, "that's going to be too long." He mumbled to himself.

He finished cutting Bradford's pants, and the other officers gasped at what they saw. There was a trail of blood streaming down Bradford's leg, and a sharp piece of metal digging into his mid-thigh.

"Lopez help me apply a tourniquet. West and Chen get the back of my car cleared and ready, and drive it around here, I'm going to have to transport him to the hospital, we can't wait for the ambulance. Nolan, I need you to check his pulse every few minutes while Lopez and I work, and also make sure he doesn't stop breathing. Harper, radio ahead to the hospital and let them know the situation and tell them we'll be there in about 6 minutes."

Everyone set off to do their jobs. As Nolan checked for a pulse, he almost couldn't find one. He told Grey, "pulse is weak, and his breathing is very rapid and shallow."

"He's probably going into hypovolemic shock. Nolan, help me get him into my car."

They finished the tourniquet and Nolan helped Grey lift Bradford into the backseat of the car, and then jumped into the he passenger seat, while Grey jumped in the driver's seat. Lucy was sitting in the back with Bradford, cradling his head in her lap.

"Come on, Tim. You can make it, we're almost at the hospital." She whispered to him.

The only thing she found comfort in was the rapid rise and fall of Bradford's chest, letting her know that he was still with her, at least for now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They pulled up to the hospital and the staff were already waiting for them outside with a gurney. They pulled Bradford out of the car and carefully placed him on the gurney and rushed him into he hospital.

As they were wheeling Bradford away, Lucy heard one of the nurses call out "Code blue!"

She didn't have to be a medical expert to know that meant they were losing him.

She was lucky Nolan was standing right there to help her stay on her feet as she broke down sobbing.

_Sorry guys! I love writing cliffhangers so there's more than likely going to be a lot of them in my writing! Lol. Thanks so much for reading!!_


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **_Hey guys!! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!! Leave me a review and let me know how I'm doing with this story! Thanks guys!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own The Rookie or its characters._

**Chapter 3**

Lucy was frantically pacing back and forth across the waiting room in the hospital. A nurse came from behind the desk and approached Nolan, who was sitting in a chair against the wall.

"Excuse me, your friend is upsetting some of the other patrons waiting. Can you try and get her to stop pacing?"

Nolan nodded and stood, walking over to Lucy. "Hey, let's take a walk outside. You could use some fresh air."

"No," she started, emotion strong in her voice, "I need to be here in case something happens."

"Lucy, it's been half an hour. They're not going to have news for us anytime soon."

"I can't, Nolan. I have to stay, please?" She said, her voice breaking.

The nurse, who had watched the interaction, spoke to Nolan, "actually, sir, we have a private waiting room, let me go see if it's open right now. If it is, you can wait in there."

He gave her a grateful look, "that would be great."

A few minutes later the nurse was leading Nolan and Lucy down the hall, and she opened a door to a small waiting room with chairs lining the walls. "This should work for you guys."

Nolan answered, "Thank you. We have other officers on their way here to wait, and our Sergeant is in the bathroom cleaning up—"

"I'll bring them all in here when they arrive," she said and left.

Lucy continued pacing the length of the room and Nolan watched her for a minute before saying, "why don't you sit, Lucy? You're going to wear yourself down."

She just shook her head. Nolan stood up and walked over to her and gently rested both of his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

"Listen to me, Lucy. Bradford is strong, he's going to fight his way back to us. He knows how much we all care about him."

"If I would've said something sooner it wouldn't have gotten this bad. I could tell something was wrong with him but I didn't say anything." She said, blinking away the tears that sprung to her eyes.

"You couldn't have said anything that would've made him get checked out before those other guys were arrested. He's a natural protector, he's going to do whatever it takes to keep his friends safe, and that's what he did today."

Lucy nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes, "you're right. He even saved me from the explosion. He dove on top of me right as it went off."

"I know. He really cares about you, Lucy."

"I care about him too. More than I thought I did."

Nolan led her to a row of chairs and they sat, trying to prepare themselves for any news they might have to receive.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few minutes later the door to the waiting room opened and Lucy and Nolan looked up to see Grey walking to a chair across from them.

"Haven't heard anything?" He questioned. They both shook their heads, and all three sat in silence until the door opened again.

This time, Lopez, Wesley, and West came walking in. Lopez rushed right to them, "How is he?"

"We haven't heard anything," Nolan answered, "when we got here they took him back to surgery and we haven't been told anything else. Where's Harper?"

"She has her daughter this weekend, so she had to go, but she said to call her with updates when we know anything."

Then they all settled in for a long agonizing wait.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few hours later Grey had gone to use the restroom, and as he was returning to the waiting room he spotted a doctor walking down the hall.

The doctor looked tired and discouraged. The look on the doctor's face was not a hopeful look, probably meaning that whatever news he was about to tell someone wasn't good.

Grey was silently hoping that the doctor wouldn't go into the private waiting room where his officers were waiting. He didn't get that lucky. He watched the doctor stop outside the private waiting room door and take a deep breath, and his face changed from discouraged to not much emotion at all. Then he opened the door and went in. Grey rushed down the hall to the room, so he was there to hear the news.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everyone looked up as the door to the waiting room opened. A doctor with a stoic expression walked in, shortly followed by Grey.

"I'm Doctor Larry Hatfield, the nurse told me you all are here for Officer Tim Bradford." Everyone nodded, so he continued, "Officer Bradford made it through surgery," everyone showed some form of relief— letting out a breath they were holding in, visibly relaxing their features— everyone except Grey.

He had seen the doctor before he put on his poker face, he knew there was a "but" coming, so he steeled himself for what they were about to hear.

"When we got him to the OR he had lost a lot of blood, and was in hypovolemic shock. Applying the tourniquet when you did most likely saved his life. We had to give him blood transfusions before we could begin to address the wound. He had a sharp piece of metal embedded in his mid-thigh. It had nicked the femoral artery, so when we removed it it started bleeding heavily. He almost didn't recover from that, but he did. We repaired the artery, and the torn quad muscle around it, and stitched the wound."

The doctor paused and Grey knew the bad news was coming next.

"Now, I don't want to be too blunt, but this type of wound has a very high risk for infection, which can also lead to an infection in the bloodstream. We're going to monitor Officer Bradford for any signs of infection, but if he does develop one, I'm very worried about if his body will be able to recover from it. The first 48 to 72 hours are crucial for his body to fight off infection, so we will be watching him carefully. He is being moved into the ICU. Do you all have any questions?"

Grey was the first to speak, "if Officer Bradford doesn't get an infection, what will recovery look like?"

"Recovery won't be easy as the muscles in his leg will need to heal and he will need to do physical therapy to gain strength back, but considering he is healthy and fit it would probably take between 1 to 3 months, and I don't see any reason that he wouldn't make a full recovery, again all of this only applies if he doesn't get an infection."

When no one else spoke right away, Lucy asked the question they were all desperate to know the answer to, "When can we see him?"

"Protocol usually only allows immediate family members into the ICU, but considering the situation, I can allow two of you at a time to visit, and only for a few minutes."

They all nodded and decided that Lopez and Wesley would go first, Grey and West would go next, and Lucy and Nolan insisted on going last.

After the others visited Bradford, Lucy and Nolan were taken to his room. Lucy walked in first and her breath hitched when she saw Bradford laying motionless in the hospital bed. She wasn't used to seeing him vulnerable like that, and it broke her heart.

Bradford was rugged, tough, and stubborn, and to see him injured, and be told by his doctor that he didn't know what the next 72 hours would hold for Bradford was harder than Lucy imagined.

Nolan waited by the door to give Lucy some privacy while she held Bradford's hand, and talked to him, "Bradford, I know you can fight through this. You have to get better and come back to us. Your seat at roll call between Lopez and Harper will always be open for you." She was fighting back tears, "thank you for saving me, Tim. You mean a lot to me, so you need to be okay... please..."

After a few more minutes she turned to leave. Now, all she was able to do was go home and wait. Lucy hated waiting. Impatience was one of her characteristics that she didn't like. But, she was willing to wait for Bradford. As long as he held on. So, she went home to wait. Wait restlessly, as Tim laid in the hospital bed fighting for his life.

_I hope you enjoyed! The last chapter/epilogue will hopefully be finished and posted tomorrow!_


	4. Chapter 4 and Epilogue

**A/N: **_Hey guys! This is the last chapter of Feelings! I hope you all enjoyed it! There is an epilogue at the end._

_Please **review** and let me know what you thought of this story, if you want more stories about The Rookie from me, and if you have any ideas that you want me to try and include in the next one._

_Thanks so much for reading guys!_

**Chapter 4**

Grey gave Lucy a few days off, so she spent almost all of the next three days at the hospital, sitting with Bradford, talking to him, and holding his hand.

Sometimes she felt uncomfortable, or worried that when he woke up he wouldn't like her like she liked him, but she couldn't deny the fact that they had a connection that they hadn't discovered before. She just hoped he would see it too.

When 3 days had gone by, Grey was at the hospital after shift, checking on Bradford, and trying to make Lucy go home to get some sleep.

"Lucy, you need some rest in a real bed. Bradford is fighting, he'll be okay for one night, and I'll stay here with him. The doctor is keeping him sedated for a few more days so his body can rest, so you won't miss him waking up."

"I don't know, sir. I just can't leave him. He's my friend, and he saved my life, and there still a risk of infection. I don't want to miss something happening, whether it be good or bad."

Grey started to speak but turned when he heard the door open. Doctor Hatfield walked in the room, and Grey thought he was almost smiling.

"Hello, doctor. You look like you're in a good mood. Do you have good news for us?" Grey asked.

"I'm pleased to tell you that Officer Bradford has shown no signs of infection over the past three days. He isn't completely out of the woods yet, but in the next few days, his body should be healed enough to wean him off of the sedation. After that, we'll wait for him to wake up and go from there."

Lucy was so relieved. "Thank you, doctor."

"There is still a chance for infection until his leg is healed and the stitches are removed, but the more it heals the better off he'll be."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few days later, Doctor Hatfield decided to move Bradford to a normal room, and wean him off of the sedation medication. He told Bradford's friends that it would probably take around a week for Officer Bradford to start waking up, and it could take longer for him to fully come around.

Continuing forward, every day after shift, Lucy, Nolan, Lopez, Harper, West, and Grey would all gather in his room talking to him, and waiting for him to show any signs of waking up.

Finally, about 5 days after the medication was completely worn off, Lucy was sitting next to Bradford's bed, holding his hand and talking to him, everyone else was standing around talking and joking with each other.

"Tim, if you can hear me, try and squeeze my hand. I know you've fought hard, but I need you to keep fighting a little more. Come back to us, we need you." She had done this every day. Every day, waiting for a response. Some type of response. She was desperate for anything.

It had been almost two weeks since that day. The last day she had seen his eyes, and his smile. The last day he had talked to her and given her a piece of advice or one of his snappy comebacks. The day he had saved her life... twice. The day she had discovered that she loved him. Love was a strong word, but watching Tim fight through this, and knowing that she didn't know what she would do if he didn't make it out... Lucy knew, deep down in her heart, that she loved him.

Tears sprung to her eyes as she thought about all they had been through. She missed riding with him, and his crazy lessons he used to teach her.

Everyone else in the room was distracted with each other, so no one saw Lucy lean in close to Bradford's ear and whisper, "Tim, you are very special to me. I need you. I love you."

She sat back and continued holding his hand and talking to him. As visiting hours came to an end, and everyone, except Lucy, was getting ready to leave, she had his hand in hers. She almost didn't want to let go for fear of missing him trying to squeeze her hand.

As she was telling everyone goodbye, she felt a very slight squeeze from his hand. She gasped. "What is it?" Asked Lopez.

Lucy was staring at his hand, waiting for any movement. He squeezed again. "He squeezed my hand!" She exclaimed.

Everyone stared in amazement, as Bradford's eyelids fluttered for a few minutes, then finally, his eyes opened. He looked around the room, slightly confused. "What—" he tried, but his throat was dry, and his voice came out raspy.

"Hold on, let me get you some ice." Lucy said and ran out to the hall to get a nurse. A few minutes later she was back with a cup of ice, and spooned some of the ice chips into his mouth a few times. "Better?" She asked.

He nodded, "better. What happened?"

Grey explained what had happened during the traffic stop and after, up until now.

"How long was I out?"

"Almost 2 weeks." Lopez replied.

Bradford cursed, "seriously?"

"Yeah, we've been waiting forever. We're so glad you're okay." Lucy said. He looked at her and noticed something in her eyes that he hadn't seen before. He smiled at her and said, "so how many nights have you been here?"

She looked down, avoiding his eyes, and said, "not many."

Everyone gave her looks, and she knew they were going to give her up, so she might as well tell him herself. "Okay, okay, almost all of them."

He smiled, "thanks for caring, boot. But you didn't have to do that."

Suddenly he winced and reached for his leg. "What's wrong?" Lucy asked.

"Sharp pains in my leg."

"I'll get the doctor," Nolan said and rushed out of the room.

A minute later he came back in followed by Doctor Hatfield.

"Officer Bradford, it's nice to see you awake, and sooner than we thought. Now, you're having sharp pains in your leg? Where exactly?"

Bradford's eyelids were growing heavy. Being awake, even for only a short time, had exhausted him. "Around my thigh, and sometimes they shoot up into my hip area." He mumbled.

Doctor Hatfield gently felt around the suture site and up towards his hip. "Can you feel this?" He asked Bradford.

Bradford has closed his eyes. "Feel what?"

"I'm touching your leg. You can't feel it?"

"Not really."

Everyone looked around at each other, all with very concerned looks on their faces.

Tim had fallen back asleep, and Doctor Hatfield asked Grey to step out into the hall with him. Lucy insisted on going too.

"What could be wrong? Why can't he feel you touching his leg?" Lucy asked, voice shaking. Greg rested a hand on her shoulder, trying to keep her calm.

"Well, best case scenario is it's just Neurapraxia, which is fairly common, especially after surgeries. It's just a nerve injury that is caused by stretching or compression of the nerves, or inflammation caused by the operation. It almost always will get better on its own, only needing to be treated with rest."

"And worse care scenario?" Grey asked.

"Worse case scenario is the femoral nerve was damaged when the muscle in his leg was lacerated by the piece of metal. Tomorrow, I would like to do an MRI on his leg to make sure the muscles are healing properly, and also an EMG to test for nerve damage in the muscle in his leg."

"And what if there is nerve damage?" Lucy asked and glanced at Grey to see if he was as nervous as she was about the answer.

"Nerve damage to the femoral nerve, or even a branch of it, could cause numbness, pain, shrinking of the thigh muscle, and muscle weakness, which would also most likely cause difficulty walking or extending the knee."

"Is there anything you would be able to do for it?"

"There are different treatments for it, but there isn't a cure. Sometimes it'll resolve on it's own, and sometimes it doesn't completely get better at all."

"So if that's the case, he might not get to come back to work?"

"If the femoral nerve is damaged, it'll depend on where and how severely, but not only is there a chance he won't get to come back to work, but he might not be able to walk without some kind of assistance."

Lucy and Grey looked at each other. Neither of them wanted to have to tell Bradford that he might not get to come back to work.

"We don't have to tell Bradford about this until we know for sure, after you do the tests tomorrow, right?" Grey asked.

"I think it would be best to wait until we know for sure." Doctor Hatfield replied.

Grey nodded, "we'll be back after shift tomorrow. Can you let us know the results then?"

"Absolutely. You guys stay safe tomorrow."

The next day, Lucy was having a hard time focusing. She couldn't imagine what it would be like if they had to tell Bradford that he could work for the LAPD anymore.

She tried not to worry until she knew for sure.

That evening, she and Grey went straight to the hospital after their shift, and immediately found Dr. Hatfield. He got right to the point.

"On Officer Bradford's tests, the muscle looks to be healing nicely, and the femoral nerve does not look to be damaged. The nerve injury should resolve itself in the next few days." Lucy and Grey both breathed a sigh of relief.

"I think you will also be pleased to know that Officer Bradford should be able to go home next week."

"That's great news. Thank you." Lucy said

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A week later, Lucy was walking next to the nurse who was pushing Bradford's wheelchair towards the exit. Right before they reached the door, Bradford asked them to stop. "What is it?" Lucy asked.

"I'm not going to be wheeled out of here like I can't walk. Hand me the crutches."

The nurse started to argue, but Lucy whispered to her, "he's not going to back down. He needs a little control over the situation, and this is all he has." The nurse nodded and handed him the crutches, then walked on one side of him, with Lucy on the other as he made his way out to the car.

As he walked out the doors he saw Nolan, Lopez, Grey, West, and Harper standing by the car, Lopez holding balloons and a card. They were all on shift, but had stopped by to see Bradford get out of the hospital. Lucy had taken off so she could take Tim to his house, and make sure he was taken care of.

After getting Tim in the car, everyone headed back to work as Lucy climbed in the driver's seat. She was about to drive away when Bradford spoke up, "hey, Lucy?"

She looked over at him, he rarely ever called her Lucy. "Yeah, Tim?"

"I didn't get a chance to say this when you told me, but I want to say it now. I love you."

Tears spring to her eyes and she reached across and placed her hand on his cheek. "I love you, too."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Epilogue**

3 months later*

Bradford walked in the doors of the LAPD. He was so glad to be back. He had surprised everyone when he healed, did physical therapy, and was already eager to be back. He passed all the tests needed to return with flying colors.

He had worked extremely hard to get back to normal, but he was finally there.

He had Lopez, Nolan, Grey, Harper, West, and especially Lucy to thank. They all helped, brought food, helped him with therapy, encouraged and supported him.

He was also happy to be exploring he and Lucy's new relationship. They had decided not to tell their friends/fellow officers yet because they weren't even sure where the relationship was headed.

All they knew was that they loved spending time together, discovering new things about each other, and ever since that traffic stop, they had a connection unlike ever before.

As Bradford walked in the room for roll call, everyone gave him a round of applause. He shrugged it off, not wanting to make a big deal of his return, and took his seat. He glanced at his phone and saw a text from Lucy. It read, "I love you, and I'm so glad you're back."

He looked towards where she was sitting in the front row with Nolan and West and smiled to himself before texting back, "I love you too."


End file.
